INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY
core faculty
STEPHANIE CHAN, MD
Coordinator for Hospitalist Learning Pathway
Dr. Stephanie Chan graduated with honors from Harvard-Radcliffe University with a BA in biology in 1990. She obtained her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco in 1994, after which she completed her internal medicine residency at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
Following her year as a chief resident, she joined the faculty as one of the first six teaching hospitalists at this institution. Dr. Chan is also an Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, and has served as the internal medicine clerkship director at VMC for over 20 years.
Dr. Chan is passionate about teaching the appropriate use and application of evidence-based medicine. She underwent intensive training in the McMaster University Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Workshop, with a special focus on teaching EBM to residents and medical students. She is also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of ProfessorEBM.com, an online teaching resource for inpatient internal medicine with over 1,000 subscribers.
Outside of work, Dr. Chan enjoys reading, outdoor sports photography, photo editing and spending time with her family.
Cheryl J. Ho, MD
Coordinator for Social Medicine and Advocacy Learning Pathway
Dr. Ho grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated with honors from Stanford University with a BS in Biological Sciences in 1996. She obtained her M.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2000 and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. She is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine.
After her chief resident year at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Dr. Ho joined the faculty as one of the two co-founders of the Valley Homeless Healthcare Program, in which she worked to create a nationally-recognized program that serves the most vulnerable in Santa Clara County. Under her leadership as Medical Director from 2008-2012, she started SCVMC’s first MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) program for individuals with opioid use disorder in the primary care setting. Dr. Ho also was a pioneer in starting and nationally disseminating the concept of shared medical appointments for individuals with Opioid Use Disorder. She established the Individualized Learning Pathway in Social Medicine and Advocacy and is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Affiliated) at the Stanford School of Medicine.
Her current roles include Medical Director of Hope Clinic, which is a clinic for individuals in Permanent Supportive Housing, as well as Medical Director for VHHP’s North County programs. She also works as a consultant with the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs in their effort to expand MAT access across the state of California. In 2017, she was awarded Clinician of the Year by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved. Her research interests are in opioid use disorder and outcomes of individuals living in permanent supportive housing.
Outside of the hospital, Dr. Ho enjoys spending time with family and her faith community.
AHMAD KAMAL, MD, MSC
Coordinator for Research Learning Pathway
Dr. Kamal graduated from the University of California at Irvine in 1995 with a B.S. in Biology and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1999. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology at Stanford in 2006, during which time he also earned an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology.
In addition to serving as associate chief of the division of gastroenterology. Dr. Kamal is vice chair of internal medicine and director of the clinical research pathway, an innovative program that provides internal medicine residents mentoring and protected time for clinical research. He is also an associate professor of medicine (affiliated) at Stanford, and is active in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. He has also received an outstanding mentor award from Stanford’s biodesign program.
Dr. Kamal has been named a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association, and been recognized several times in the “Top Doctors” list. Most recently, he was one of 6 recipients of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Excellence in Healthcare Award.
Dr. Kamal has also been active in clinical and health services research, authoring 20 peer-reviewed publications, over 40 abstracts, and 7 book chapters. He is a peer reviewer for several journals in the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology.
In this free time, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his family.
Robin Tittle, MD
Coordinator for the Global Medicine Learning Pathway
Dr Tittle graduated from Brown University with a BA in psychology in 2005 and received her MD at UCSF in 2010 as well as a Masters in global health at UCSF in 2009. She stayed at UCSF for Internal Medicine residency and a fellowship in global health and hospital medicine in 2014. She first joined Santa Clara Valley’s hospitalist group in 2014, co-directing the global health and social medicine pathway. Although she left for a few years to live and work in Portland, OR, she was delighted to return to VMC in 2021. She directs the global health pathway and is active in social medicine education for the residents.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Tittle is part of the leadership team for the UCSF HEAL Initiative, a global health equity fellowship.
She is passionate about providing the highest quality compassionate care for marginalized communities in San Jose and around the world.
ESTHER AMUYUNZU, MD
Specialty Education Coordinator for Social Medicine
Dr. Amuyunzu grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and later lived in the largely immigrant central valley town of Delano, CA. In these settings, she developed a passion for understanding the effect of society on health outcomes.
She graduated from University of California, Davis in 2009 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Community and Regional Development. She went on to receive an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco in 2014 where she focused on serving an underserved population through the "Model SFGH" program, which focuses on teaching students by immersion into the thriving county hospital. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in 2017. During residency she was part of the global health pathway and became a Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholar and participated in an immersion program in Butare, Rwanda.
In her free time, you can find her on a plane off to explore a different corner of the world.
JACKIE BOTROS, MD
Division Chief of Hospitalist Medicine
Dr. Botros graduated from UCLA in 2004 with a B.S. in Molecular Cell Biology and received her M.D. from UCSF in 2009. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at UC Davis and completed a Chief Medical Residency in 2013 prior to joining the hospitalist group at VMC.
Her interests include resident wellness and mentorship, quality improvement, and patient safety. Dr. Botros loves traveling and spending her free time enjoying the outdoors with her family.